Heh here it is folks! The start of a new series which...after some thought I decided to dub the Valnitus Chronicles. This is a completely original story so all characters belong to me myself and I only.


All characters are © ME. Do not use without my permission.

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Valnitus chronicles: 1- Awakening


Sitting at his desk, Toshiro, a 15 year old high school student was in the back of the classroom, reading the class textbook with a bored expression on his face. He had short brown hair that always looked messy, he wasn't one to use a comb. Eyes were slightly drooped as if he were going to fall asleep, when his gaze changed to the pendant wrapped around his neck. It had a very interesting design on it and when he woke up in the morning, he never expected to recieve such a piece before. His father was an avid explorer and today was his 15th birthday, and for that occasion his father sent to him a glowing red stone, which was surprisingly hot to the touch. On it's surface there was a dinosaur, a raptor no less, latched onto the stone as if it would not let it go. His father called it the Sunstone pendant.


"Toshiro!" Came the voice of the teacher. His teacher was quite young. He looked to be in his mid 20's. His hair was silvery white and spiked upward as if he were from some manga. "Can you recount the asteroid event that happened during the middle ages?"


For a moment, Toshiro was completely dumbstruck, but he put the text book away and smiled nervously. "Y-yes sir! Mister Hiroshi!" He could feel a sweatdrop forming on his right temple. "Nearly over a thousand years ago...there was an asteroid that touched down in what is now the kanto region of Japan. The people who lived during that time felt it was a premonition of the gods. And from it they mined the minerals from this asteroid to create many great objects and some not so great. Such as suits of armor, or something as trivial as an arm band."


Hiroshi nodded, looking pleased for a time. "That pendant of yours is made from the same alloy isn't it? It's said in the textbook that the objects crafted from the minerals of the asteroid would glow rather eerily."


"Y-yes sir!" Toshiro showed his pendant out to the class. "My dad gave this to me for my birthday today. He said it was past down in our family for generations."


After that, Toshiro was told to sit back down. The rest of the school day was relatively uneventful. As an after school activity, Toshiro would help tutor a few kids who were having problems with their school work. Though he was a shy boy, and didn't socialize very well, Toshiro was actually in the top of his class, most other kids hated him for it but there also a good many that always sought out his help with upcoming tests and exams.


With all of his tutoring done with, he started making his way out of the school. Following the hallway that would lead out to the front entrance, he spotted Mr Morikawa talking to a young girl with blonde hair and light blue highlights that complimented her natural beauty. He recongnized the girl as his childhood friend Lizzy.


"Of course Mr Morikawa. You don't have to worry about my family. My father is going to be back in the force in a couple more days." With a light smile, she started turning away from the teacher, then ran straight towards Toshiro when she caught sight of him. "Hey! You promised that you'd help me study for friday's history assignment remember? Don't walk out on me!"


Giving her a sour face, Toshiro started walking out of the building, at this point he had both of their backpacks stacked over his back so he had to walk haunched over. "I promised to help you study, I didn't promise I'd be your pack mule..."


"A gentleman always offers to carry a womans bag to and from school!" She lifted her head so her nose was in the air, then smiled. "Listen...Mr.Morikawa was telling me that he'll be absent for a few days next week. Something's come up with his folks overseas."


This new bit of information changed Toshiro's angry face to that of a sullen expression. "Oh..I hope that they'll be okay. More importantly! How's your dad? Has he recovered yet?"


When the subject changed to that of her own family, she twisted her head, looking down at the river that flowed just to the side of the sidewalk. "The bullet missed his spine by a few inches so he won't have perminant paralysis...And he can now do most excercises without being in any sort of pain. But he'll likely be stuck in police HQ for a few more months."


"Well you must be happy about that at least." Toshiro said with a big smile. "You won't have to worry about him being out on the field for awhile. If his partner had been paying more attention the whole crisis could have been avoided..."


When Liz didn't respond to his comment, he realized it would be a good idea to move away from that topic. Once they got into their neighborhood he took her to his upstairs apartment. He lived on the third floor of a small apartment complex, while Liz lived on the other side of the complex. "So...have you heard anything from your own family?" Lizzie asked quietly, noting how empty the house looked, no parents came to greet the pair.


"Well...from what I know they are in Tibet right now. Apparently they're trying to find more of those artifacts like the one he sent to me this morning." Toshiro replied calmly, taking a pair of glasses and filling each halfway with a carton of milk. "Every now and then they'll send me a post card and put money into my savings account so I can go shopping for groceries."


The two friends sat at the table infront of the living room tv and started cracking down on their studies. For the most part, Toshiro simply took the time to help Liz with her homework, and helping her brush up on her history. When they were finished, she gave him a small peck on the cheek before heading back to her own home, leaving him sitting alone in the middle of the living room floor. He remained that way for a good while, until he snapped out of his trance and looked down at the Pendant around his neck and pulled it over his head. "I wish you guys would come home...it gets lonely in this house by myself..." As he turned the pendant over to it's side, he found a word engraved on the side of the Raptor's toeclaw, though he hadn't realized it until now. "Hmmm...Virtue..." He muttered the words, cringing suddenly as the eyes of the raptor suddenly started glowing a light blue, as if a flashlight had just kicked on inside of it. "Woah! Freaky..."

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"Where...am I?" The place was pitch black. Nothing could be seen in this realm, and yet, a pair of blue eyes managed to pierce through the veil of darkness. "Someone is calling me...who..." Just then, the image of Toshiro appeared in the darkness. "This...boy."

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Toshiro rubbed the pendant a few times, looking over the word every now and then. "Is it a name? Maybe the name of the person who originally had it crafted?" He sighed. Setting the pendant on the table and slowly getting up. "WELL Virtue...I'm going to catch some shut eye. Tomorrow's a big day at School."

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"This creature is turning his back on me? Hold on! Don't you walk away from me after you just woke me up!"

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When Toshiro turned to walk away, the room started lighting up as if someone had recently set off a fireworks display in his house. Turning to look at the source, he saw the pendant he'd been holding previously was now the very thing that was giving off that intense light. He watched in awe, the eyes glowing all the brighter as the whole place soon went up in a flash bang, knocking him down on his back. "Ahhh! My eyes!"


Just as he was beginning to adjust his vision, he stared with awe and fear, as a massive 10 foot Raptor was now standing straight in his house. Certain areas of it's body were covered in hot blazing fire, including the head where the flames created a sort of Mohawk hairstyle. It was a light red, almost pink in color of it's scales, while it's belly was a dark shade of yellow. When he stared at it's jaws he couldn't help but be a little nervous at the sharp teeth snapping multiple times. He had a feeling this monster, whatever it was, was very angry. "U-uh hello...Please don't hurt me!"


The large raptor snorted, looking over it's surroundings and noted how the boy cowered infront of him. "Oh please, I wouldn't waste my time on a little morsal like you."


"W-what is your name?" Toshiro asked, slowly getting his bearings but more importantly, he realized a very important fact. "Y-You can taaalk!?!"


The raptor took a few steps, staring into the hallway just beyond then turned to face the human who he very nearly stepped on, it's talon tapping the floor a bit. "It's Virtue...and of course I can talk! Why wouldn't I?"


Toshiro was too dumbstruck to answer right away, but after another minute or so he managed to pull himself back on his feet. "Wait...so YOU'RE Virtue? then it must have been a name...Do you always come out when someone reads your name out loud?"


The question surprised Virtue. Why this small frail creature suddenly got over his fear despite their obvious difference in size and strength was beyond him. "I wouldn't know. You're the first one to wake me up. And why DID you wake me up anyway?" He asked while approaching the boy, crouching low to meet him eye to eye.


"U-uhh..." He backspaced as the reptile approached him, he kept his distance from the flames being produced from his body and realized, this must have been why the pendant was so hot. "I didn't mean too? I was just...examining the pendant my dad gave me for my birthday. I...didn't know you were trapped in there."


Virtue remained in place, sniffing the air around him as he scrutenized the boy before him. "Your birthday? And I was given...as a gift to you? Where are your folks now?"


"They're halfway across the world. Why is it anything to you?" Toshiro asked, looking a bit more nervous until he hit the wall behind him.


"this boy...He's been living all on his own. He seems innocent enough." With a deep breath, Virtue lifted a clawed hand and brought it to the boy's chest. "I'm not some trophy to be passed around got that? That said...You woke me from a deep sleep and I always repay my debts. As thanks to you releasing me, I'll protect you. At least until your parents return."


Toshiro's fear quickly subsided when he heard the Raptor speak. "Protect me? I...you can't come outside the way you are! besides...I don't need any protecting, I'm capable of taking care of myself."


With a growl, Virtue brought his face closer. "Oh yes, I'm sure with your frail body...lack of scales and no allignment to any elemental clan that you can protect yourself just fine!" When Virtue pulled away he snorted another answer. "I can follow you wherever I need. You woke me up, released me from the chains of slumber. If at least to prevent a panic, I can transform back into the so called pendant you recieved from your father."


"But won't that put you back to sleep?" Asked the human, looking very confused at this point and then his mind went back to something the Raptor said. "Hold on...YOu said I wasn't aligned to any elemental clan. What do you mean?"


"Ignus." Virtue replied calmly, looking at the flames on his wrists. "My elemental clan is called Ignus. We are creatures aligned with fire that courses through our body. It's our blood and life. I can't remember much else than that and my name. I do have the nagging feeling that I'm forgetting a few important details."


For a couple seconds, neither of them said anything. Until Toshiro regained the courage to walk away, coming back a few seconds later with a glass of milk for Virtue, pushing the glass towards him. "Drink up...I"m sure a thousand years of hard sleep has you parched." He started grinning, laughing internally at his own joke. "How about this. We help each other then. Not from any sort of obligation though. But as friends. I'll help you try and remember the spaces of your memory that you've forgotten, and in exchange...you and I...become roommates. Just don't burn any of my furnishings."


Looking into the white, swirling liquid in it's container, Virtue couldn't help but feel touched by the thoughfulness of the strange, pale creature. Slowly, he grabbed ahold of the glass handed to him, and guzzled down the contents gratefully. WIth a deep breath, the flames over his body were put out, dissapearing in the blink of an eye. "Don't worry, as long as we're not in any sort of combat situation, my flames can remain tucked away inside me. I don't know what a... 'room mate' is... but I thank you for your hospitality."


Hearing Virtue's lack of understanding of human society made him laugh. "There's another thing I can help you with. Virtue...I didn't introduce myself. My name is Toshiro. Toshiro Reishi it's nice to meet you."


Staring at Toshiro, he noted the human's arm extending forward. "What is it you want me to do with that?"


"Do?" With a smile, Toshiro waved his hand infront of Virtue. "I want you to shake it. It's what people do when they greet each other."


The reptile listed to the human's explaination and extended a clawed hand forward, gripping Toshiro's hand and giving it a gentle shake. "Well then...nice to meet you Toshiro."


The two stared into each others eyes, before Toshiro pulled his hand away and started walking down the hallway. "Comeon. I'll show you where you'll be sleeping."


"Sleep? I've done nothing but sleep!" He complained, following the boy down the hall and into a room to the right side of the hallway, grumbling the whole while as their conversation slowly faded into mumbles that echoed around the apartment.


(End of chapter)